<p>Rather than repost an entire chances thread here, I'll just give you a quick rundown of the important stuff!</p>
<p>White male from PA
Interested in biology major (perhaps a bio/marketing double major?)
GPA: 3.9ish UW, about 105-106/100 W (not sure how that translates on a 4.0 scale)
Rank: 2/around 400
SAT I: 660M 760CR 730W 2150 total (and retaking hopefully to a 2200+, which I think is certainly in my league)
SAT II: 740 US History 690 Math I
Hardest courses at school, taken all APs offered (7 of them) all other classes are honors</p>
<p>Quick list of my most interesting/involved ECs:
--United States Senate page (without connections!)
--internship at World Aerobics/Hip Hop Championship in Los Angeles for two summers (featured on upcoming NBC show)
--tons of volunteer work at my church, literally 1000s of hours for as long as I can remember
--school bowling team throughout HS (sadly not the athletic type!)
--steady part time job for two years</p>
<p>The schools I'm MOST interested in are: Duke, William and Mary, Pepperdine, UVA, and Rice. I also have Pitt and PSU as safeties, even though I'm told I'm pretty safe for Pepperdine. I'd really like to aim for a school that's strong in the sciences where I won't feel like a number. (I'm still iffy for UVA as well as Pitt and PSU on this fact...so I would really like to find some more strong science-based safeties, as well as matches!) Location really doesn't matter, as I'm open to anywhere in the country. In terms of a campus environment, I'd lean towards a more conservative atmosphere, although that surely wouldn't make or break any of my decisions. I'm also really open to any religious affiliation, though I am a Catholic. However, the most important factor is that I am looking for financial aid (need based and merit), so if you can think of a school that sounds similar to what I'm looking for where I could be offered some merit money, that would be extremely helpful, too!</p>
<p>Thanks for looking! Any suggestions will really help, as its getting down to full-on application time and I want to make sure I don't miss out on any potential options.</p>
<p>Tulane gives a lot of aid. Look at Boston College- sounds like a real fit, but isn't easy to get into. How about Wake Forest? Case Western Reserve gives aid and is really good in the sciences. U of Rochester, also. Vanderbilt is definitely worth looking at, but is not a safety.</p>
<p>If you don't mind a small school, Davidson might be a very good fit, probably a match rather than a reach, or at worst a very realistic reach. Excellent academics, moderate politics by college-world standards, and overall sounds like a place that might work for you.</p>
<p>OneMom--I'd actually been considering Tulane after they e-mailed me a few times (a free application, so why not, right?) and knowing that they're good with merit money is going to make me think about that even more. </p>
<p>mattmom--The Davidson suggestion was also excellent! I honestly hadn't even really heard of it before and I think I'm going to do some more research on it now. They seem to actually have the balanced (where I can get my science AND humanities) academic atmosphere I'm looking for without the whole ultra-liberal New England LAC feel. Their financial aid program seems very well put together as well. No loans?? I'm all for that.</p>
<p>If anyone else has anything to add, I'd appreciate it. This has definitely helped me thus far!</p>
<p>As OneMom suggested, Vanderbilt is in range for admission, and does give some merit aid, but I'm not suggesting it is a good bet for merit aid. They are a "need blind" and "100% of need met" school, though, so need-based aid might be good. They like to see volunteer/community service on your record, and like to find students who plan to continue with community work after enrolling at VU.</p>
<p>midmo--Thanks for the opinion! I'm only concerned that Vandy might be a little bit of a reach for me, but I think I'm definitely going to look into it. I doubt I'd get any merit money there, but I've heard really good things about their other aid offers. A lot of people I know have been suggesting it to me, actually. They're like, "Well, it looks like you're favoring the South and your personality matches right in there." So the reinforcement on that makes me think I should continue checking it out.</p>
<p>Wake Forest fits most of your criteria and is fairly generous with merit aid. Holy Cross, Wooster, Denison, Hendrix, Kalamazoo, Centre, Grinnell, Furman, Goucher, Hope, Beloit, Lawrence, Allegheny, and Franklin & Marshall have good reputations in biology and for merit aid.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon's D received a scholarship at Rhodes to study biology; apparently their program is great and offers plenty of research opportunities.</p>
<p>Nice stats! I second the Denison suggestion. Good merit aid, large bio. preserve, good research opportunities, small classes - you will NOT feel like a number.</p>